Thailand and Cambodia agree to quash 'rumours' after worker exodus

Cambodian migrant workers pack the arrival area in the city of Poipet after crossing the Thai-Cambodian border, in the north-eastern Cambodian province of Banteay Meanchey on Tuesday, June 17, 2014. Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Tuesday to quash "rumours" of a crackdown against illegal migrant workers by the new Thai junta after the exodus of nearly 180,000 Cambodian labourers. -- PHOTO: AFP

BANGKOK (AFP) - Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Tuesday to quash "rumours" of a crackdown against illegal migrant workers by the new Thai junta after the exodus of nearly 180,000 Cambodian labourers.

The numbers of labourers fleeing home soared after the Thai military regime warned last week that illegal foreign workers face arrest and deportation.

The junta has since insisted there is no "crackdown" and blamed false rumours for the exodus.

The International Organisation for Migration has previously estimated that around 180,000 undocumented Cambodian workers live in Thailand, so it is unclear exactly how many still remain.